


see what the vibe raises

by likewinning



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7946353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likewinning/pseuds/likewinning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Didn't anyone have the appropriate work behavior talk with you yet?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	see what the vibe raises

"So," Dick says. "Why do you want to work at Hot Topic?"

The girl - Steph - doesn't even blink, just says, "Because I need the money and if I have to schlep one more pizza at Dominos I'm going to lose my mind."

Jason likes her already. He's only in here with them because it's Dick's first time interviewing anyone since becoming assistant manager. When Steph walked into the place, Roy's jaw practically unhinged itself. And yeah, even Jason knows she's hot - blonde hair, blue eyes, at least 5'9 and an incredible rack - but that's not why he keeps signaling to Dick _hire her_.

"Um," Dick says. "So, it's the mall. We get shoplifters sometimes. How would you handle that?"

Again, Steph just looks straight at both of them and says, "Run fast and tackle hard?"

Jason laughs so hard he snorts. Steph beams at him.

 

*

 

"So," Steph says a few days later. She's training on the register with Jason, and it's been pretty slow since the after school rush. "Who's hooking up around here?"

"Uh," Jason asks. He _knows_ he's blushing. "What?"

Steph gives him a look. "I've been working since I was fourteen, okay. I _know_ about office romances. Gimme the gossip." She leans in a little, asks, "You and the one who could be a model, right?"

"Dick?" Jason asks, and his stupid face blushes _harder_.

"Uh-huh," Steph says. "I mean, I'm not into dudes, but those _cheekbones_ , my god."

"Ha," Jason says. "Yeah. Well, Dick and I, we're not. We're just friends. Best friends," he amends before he can help himself.

Steph grins at him. "God, you're cute." She ruffles his hair, and Jason bats her hand away.

"Cut it out," Jason says. "Didn't anyone have the appropriate work behavior talk with you yet?"

Roy, of course, chooses that moment to step behind the register and wrap his arms around Jason's waist. "Hey new girl," Roy says. "I'm Roy."

"Uh-huh," Steph says. "It's Steph, not new girl."

"Right," Roy says. He kisses Jason's neck, asks, "Wanna take a break?"

"Can't," Jason says. "Training. You know, the girl standing right in front of me?"

Roy blows a raspberry into his neck. "Eh, just throw her at a crowd of sixth graders on frappuccinos and be done with it. That's how _I_ learned."

"Yeah," Jason says. "And that's why _you_ don't get to train people." He leans back against Roy, tips his head up and asks, "Go get us some coffees?"

Roy sighs, kisses Jason in full view of the girl coming up to the register to check out. "Sure thing, babe."

"So," Steph says a few minutes later when she's successfully rung up a sale. "Appropriate behavior at work, huh?"

"Shut up," Jason grumbles.

"So Roy's your boyfriend?" Steph asks.

"No," Jason stammers. "We're not - it's not like that."

"Just quickies in the storeroom, huh?" Steph teases.

Jason stares her down. "You already know way too much about my life."

"Totally," Steph says. "You wanna grab lunch tomorrow?"

 

*

Jason takes Steph to a place that's actually not in the mall, a little diner across the street and a few blocks where he used to wait sometimes for Dick to get off his shift. They order burgers and milkshakes and enough fries to clog their arteries for the next twenty years.

"I did the waitress thing for a little while," Steph says. "Back when I was still in school. But I kept wanting to poison everyone so I thought it was best if I left."

"Benefits of working retail instead," Jason says. "I mean, I still want to poison people sometimes, but it's harder to do that there, you know?"

"Yeah," Steph sighs, like it's a real hardship. She dunks a couple fries into her milkshake, slurps them down and says, "So you and Dick."

"Ugh," Jason says. "Come on. I'm trying to be _friends_ with you."

Steph grins. "I bet I'm the first girl who tried to pump you for information about him who wasn't trying to hit that, though."

"Truth," Jason agrees. "I mean look, it's… He's my best friend, you know?"

"Uh-huh," Steph says. She slurps down her milkshake, makes a grab for Jason's but he bats her hand away. "I went through that back in high school." She throws the pickle off her burger, says, "There was this girl Cassie. Tiny and blonde and like, the prettiest thing you ever saw, you know? Tiny girls always kill me."

"And you guys were friends?" Jason asks.

" _Best_ friends," Steph says. "You know, with the bracelets and everything? We were kind of obsessed with each other. I even joined the cheerleading squad for a while for her."

Jason chokes on his burger. "Don't _ever_ tell Roy you were a cheerleader," he says. "Seriously."

Steph sticks her tongue out at him. "I was a badass cheerleader, okay. I can do flips and cartwheels and shit."

"Ha," Jason says. "You and Dickie would get along then. He was in the circus."

"Seriously?" Steph asks. "With like, lions and tigers and bears?"

"And elephants," Jason says. "He's got pictures."

"Oh _god_ ," Steph says.

"Yeah," Jason says. "So anyway. This girl."

"Yeah," Steph says. "So I was crazy about her, right? But we weren't… I didn't _tell_ her that. She had this stupid boyfriend, but she'd always hug me and tell me how much she loved me and it was like…"

"Like your chest was gonna explode from how much it hurt, right?" Jason asks, because god, he _knows_.

"Yeah," Steph says.

"So what happened?" Jason asks.

"She went to college out of state," Steph says. "I didn't. My mom… I didn't want to leave my mom. My dad's been in jail since the beginning of time, you know? I couldn't do that. So now I'm stuck living with her and working two jobs and it's making me _nuts_ and the girl I was going to move in with bailed on me and - wow," Steph says. "That was way too much information, sorry."

Jason laughs. "It's okay," he says. "I'm used to it. At least you're not babbling to me about your sex life like Dickie does."

Steph _grins_. "Get to know me better and I'll tell you some stories."

Jason throws his napkin at her.

 

*

 

"Jay," Dick says a few days later, barging into Jason's room at seven o'clock on the morning. "Have you seen my blue shirt?"

Jason looks at his alarm clock, then at Dick, who's wearing nothing but a pair of tiny boxer-briefs. "Uh," he says. "You mean the one you were wearing when we set off those firecrackers last month?"

"Duh!" Dick says. He starts ransacking Jason's dresser, then the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. "Did you take it?"

"No, Dickie," Jason says. He rolls over and puts his pillow over his head. "I threw it out. It had _holes_ in it, remember?"

"Yeah, but," Dick says. He jumps on the bed next to Jason, and Jason rearranges the blanket on top of him. "I wanted to wear it today. Helena says it brings out my eyes."

"Which one is she again?" Jason asks.

" _Duh_ ," Dick says. He pokes at Jason's shoulder. "The one in Dinah's band? You know, with the -" Dick makes a gesture with his hands in front of his chest, and Jason snorts.

"Classy, Dickie," Jason says.

"What?" Dick asks. "It's _true._ "

"Yeah, well," Jason says. "I don't know where your shirt is. Wear one of mine if you want."

"'Kay," Dick says. He gets back up and rifles through Jason's dresser again, then pulls a shirt out and puts it on right there. "Jeez," Dick says. "Stop _growing_ , Jay. This is almost big on me."

Jason looks over at him. He tries not to think about when Dick takes that shirt off again, how it'll _smell_ like him, sugar and that stupid cologne he always wears. "Maybe you're shrinking," Jason teases. Dick tackles him, musses him Jason's hair beyond any kind of repair and slobbers all over his face like an over-excited dog.

"I could see if she's got a friend," Dick offers. "I think their sound guy is gay."

Jason makes a face. "That's okay, Dickie."

"You sure?"

"Positive," Jason says. He squeezes out from under Dick and grabs for his pillow. "Now go _away_. I don't have to be up for hours."

Dick leaves him alone - still making his usual stupid amount of noise when he sings at top volume in the shower - and Jason tries to go back to sleep, but he's still awake when Dick leaves, so he reaches for his phone instead and pulls up Steph's number.

_how's the roommate search going?_

_shitty_ , Steph texts back. _one guy wouldn't stop staring at my tits._

 _they are good tits_ , Jason says. Steph sends him a picture of her giving him the finger. _sorry_ , Jason says.

 _this girl seemed cool_ , Steph texts. _but then she started talking about how the Lord must have introduced us. terrifying._

 _jesus_.

_how are things on your end?_

Jason takes a while to answer. He thought he'd love living with Dick. When Dick got adopted, Jason missed him so bad he ran away a couple of times. It took him forever to fall asleep, to feel safe again without Dick there. But - it's different now. It _hurts_ more when Dick comes home at three in the morning with some girl, when Dick forgets about their plans.

And Dick is -

 _well_ , Jason texts. _I just walked into our kitchen and there's cereal stuck to the ceiling._

 _how is that possible?_ Steph asks.

_i live with Dick Grayson._

_i'll pray for you._

 

*

 

"What's the deal with you and Steph?" Roy asks him a week or so later back at his place. Jason _hates_ Roy's place - anyone sane would. It's cheap enough that _Roy_ doesn't need a roommate, but it's also the size of a storage closet and twice as messy. Jason hates it here, but Dick's breaking up with Helena today, and Jason wants to be nowhere _near_ their apartment when that happens.

Dick's break-ups tend to end pretty violently. For Dick, anyway.

"No deal," Jason says. He lays back on the cleanest part of Roy's mattress, takes the joint Roy passes him. "She's just cool, you know?"

"I wouldn't know," Roy says. "I think she hates me."

"Quit staring at her tits and have a conversation with her instead," Jason suggests. "I mean, a) you're never getting near them, and b) you might actually like her. She's obsessed with all those fuckin' 80's slasher movies like you are."

"Hm," Roy says. He slips the joint from Jason's fingers, takes a big hit, and thumbs Jason's mouth open so he can shotgun it to him. Jason inhales deep, licks his way into Roy's mouth until he forgets what the hell they were talking about.

Roy gets Jason's shirt off, kisses the ink on his shoulder that he went with Jason to get a few months ago. It's a drawing of a phoenix that Roy sketched for him ages ago, after Jason first moved out of the foster home.

"Hm," Roy says. "I'll keep that in mind."

Later, when they're both sweaty and gross because Roy's place isn't even _air conditioned_ , they lean over the window smoking cigarettes.

"I think I gotta move," Jason says. "Steph's looking for a roommate, and… this isn't working with me and Dickie, you know?"

Roy nods. He wraps his arms around Jason despite the heat, kisses his neck. "You know you're always welcome here, Jaybird."

"Yeah," Jason says. "Only I'd murder you for your hygiene alone."

Roy laughs, bites down on his skin. "What about Dickie?"

"I don't know," Jason says. "I mean, he can afford it for a while. He's actually not as bad with money as you'd think. I mean, except for that time he tried to buy a ferris wheel."

"Ah, good times," Roy says. "We can thank our good friends T, H, and C for that."

"Yep," Jason says. "I just… It's gonna hurt him, man."

"Probably," Roy agrees. "But…" He squeezes Jason. "It's gonna hurt you more to stay."

"Yeah," Jason says. He turns in Roy's arms, looks up at him - he barely _has_ to look up anymore. "You had a thing for him," he says. "How did _you_ get over it?"

Roy grins, and Jason's dick just _is_ hard again. "Well," Roy says. He backs Jason up against the mattress, frames his hips with his hands. "There was this _cute_ little twink I met."

"Really," Jason says.

"Uh-huh," Roy says. He pushes Jason down on the bed and straddles him, runs his fingers through his hair. "Blue hair, big blue eyes, and that _mouth_."

Jason laughs. "Shut up, Roy."

Roy winks, slides down Jason's body until he reaches his dick and says, "Don't worry, baby, I was planning on it."

They're both two hours late that day. Steph threatens to quit until Jason finds the very last Freddy Kreuger action figure in the backroom and buys (steals) it for her as a present. Roy offers to give Steph what made them so late, and Jason gets out of the way so she can punch him in the stomach.

 

*

 

When Jason gets home later that night, he walks in on Dick fucking a girl he's never seen before on the couch. Jason was really hoping he'd manage to make it a week without seeing Dick's naked ass.

"You have a room," Jason grunts at them as he passes by on the way to the kitchen. "With a door that locks, and everything."

Dick finds him in his room a few minutes later. He at least pulled on boxers and a t-shirt, but his hair is all sex-mussed and Jason really, really doesn't need to think about someone else running their hands through Dick's hair. It's just -

"Do you hate me?" Dick asks. He plops down on Jason's bed smelling like sweat and sex and Jason's really tempted to say _yes_.

"No," Jason says. "But seriously, Dickie, not when I'm home, okay?"

"But you weren't," Dick says, and Jason glares.

"Not when you know I'll _be_ home."

"But -"

"Dickie," Jason sighs. "Just. Shut up for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," Dick says, frowning.

"I gotta," Jason says. He tugs at his hair. "I gotta talk to you about something serious."

"Oh," Dick says. "Are you dying? I _told_ you to quit smoking, Jason -"

" _Dickie_ ," Jason says, and Dick shuts up. "I'm not dying, and I _need_ a cigarette. I'm. I'm gonna move out, Dickie."

"What?" Dick asks. "Because of today? Jay, I'm sorry, I promise I won't -"

Jason reaches for Dick's hand and squeezes. "Not - not because of today, no," Jason says. "I mean, that's part of it, but it's a small part."

"What -"

"It's - I just - I just don't think this is a good fit for us, Dickie."

Dick looks like Jason _hit_ him. "But you're my best friend."

"I know," Jason says. "And that's not gonna change. Except maybe if I keep living here. We're making each other _nuts_ , Dickie, and you know it."

"Well," Dick admits. He chews his lip. "It's pretty annoying that you keep cleaning my room when I'm gone."

"It's a _nightmare_ in there."

"But I can't _find_ anything, Jay," Dick says, and they look at each other and laugh.

"Where," Dick asks. "Where are you gonna go?"

"Steph and I are gonna get a place," Jason says. "She seems pretty cool, and it's not like there'll be any weirdness for _me_ about living with a girl."

Dick grins. "I _have_ seen you with a girl before, Jason Todd."

"Ssh," Jason says. "You'll ruin my twink rep."

Dick laughs again, then frowns. "What about _me_?"

"Roy could move in," Jason says, mostly kidding.

"Ugh," Dick says. "That's too gross even for _me_."

"So I'll help you find someone," Jason says.

"Sure, but…"

" _You'll_ be fine, too, Dickie," Jason says. He leans forward and kisses Dick on the cheek. "I'll unplug the stove before I leave," he says, only kidding a little bit.

"But then how am I gonna roast marshmallows?" Dick asks, and Jason ignores his _heart attack_ and says, "Just make them at Roy's house instead."

Dick pulls him into a hug, tight and warm and perfect, squeezes him until Jason can barely breathe. "I'm gonna miss you, Jaybird."

"I'll still see you every day, moron," Jason says, instead of _me, too._

"Not the same, and you know it," Dick says.

"Yeah," Jason says. "I know."

 

*

 

A couple days into living with Steph, Jason wakes up at four in the morning to what sounds like someone swearing and throwing pots and pans around. When he gets up, Steph is in the kitchen in her underwear and a t-shirt, rummaging through the cabinets.

"What," Jason asks. "Are you doing?"

Steph looks up at him from the floor, where she's surrounded by ever pan they collectively own. "I'm looking for your waffle iron."

Jason blinks. "My what now?"

Steph scowls. "What kind of person doesn't own a waffle iron?"

"Well," Jason says. "Apparently _you_ don't. Why does this matter right now, exactly?"

"Sometimes," Steph says. She looks down, her hair falling over her face. "Sometimes, you just really need some waffles, you know?"

And that's how Jason and Steph end up at the 24-hour Wal-Mart at 4:30AM searching for a waffle iron, which it turns out Steph doesn't actually know how to _use_ , so it's up to Jason to make waffles _for_ her.

"Well," Steph says mid-way through her second helping, when they're watching TV on the floor because they haven't bought a sofa yet. "It's been decided that you're never allowed to leave."

"You know, I could teach you how to make those," Jason says. "It's really easy -"

"Nope," Steph says. She grins at him, her mouth sticky with maple syrup and her eyes puffy from bad sleep. "Never ever leaving."


End file.
